Well, fuck
by Ms.GrinAndCry
Summary: I CANNOT believe I am actually fucken doing this. Well, lo and behold, here's a crossover between AOT & Inuyasha in which everything is incredibly shady and depressing and maybe a little bit badass but mostly just shady and depressing. Official summary:"Mikasa opens her eyes to blue skies and has no idea what has happened. She's supposed to be dead. This is NOT what she planned."
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Prologue:

 _ **Everything Begins and Ends in the Darkness**_

Mikasa knew something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes. The sky that welcomed her back to consciousness was a clear, crystal blue – a shade that should have been impossible to see among the smoke that just seconds ago polluted the sky. Staring in confusion at the clouds, she waited for the imminence of death that would surely finally ( _finally_ ) claim her life – waited for thunder steps to strike the ground, waited to hear the crunch of bones beneath a heavy weight, and waited until the sky would be obscured by the foot that would crush her like the bugs she had crushed when she was eight.

She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Slowly, the sky turned and the clouds darkened until she was staring into the scarred face of the moon; a flash of lightning pierced the heavens. Mikasa's heart pounded loudly against her chest.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

She was not supposed to be here, injured but alive, staring into the darkness as water hit her face. She was not supposed to know what cold was, nor that if she stayed out here any longer she would catch a cold. No.

 _This_ is how it was supposed to go ( _and wasn't it funny that she had looked forward to this since the moment Eren died-_ ): She was supposed to fight off a horde of titans, kick some traitor ass, tell the others to save themselves and leave her there, kill that bastard Reiner, and die. That was it. Nothing less, nothing more. The universe had an awfully funny way of messing up her plans, it seemed.

Slowly, painfully, she rolled into her side, huffing with exertion. The fight had taken quite a toil on her; she had at least three broken ribs, a twisted ankle, and a nasty gash on her left hip that if left untreated would become infected. She grimaced and pushed herself into a sitting position. If Armin were here, he would have—

Not now, Mikasa, there's no time for that.

Nervously licking her lips, she started to stand, shaking with the effort and breaking into a cold sweat. She gasped. Damn. Okay, so maybe she had miscalculated the extent of her injuries, but she really couldn't do anything about that now. Scanning the immediate area, she decided to head for the forest. Silently cursing herself, she thought that if Armin were here he would have yelled at—

No, no ( _please, don't be mad at me, Armin_ ), not now. Preferably, she thought bitterly, preferable never.

Taking a deep breath, Mikasa headed into the darkness of the forest, dragging her injured leg roughly against the ground. Ideally, she would need to climb one of the taller trees to put some distance between herself and the titans that would surely be here shortly. Even with all the training under her belt, she wasn't sure how exactly she was gonna manage that, but she had to think quickly. Glancing at clouds overhead, she pointedly ignored the nagging voice at the back of her mind (which sounded oddly like—) that screamed at her that there was something she was missing.

She walked in, deep, deeper, and didn't look back.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the human girl, a pair of glowing eyes watched her enter the woods.


	2. Chapter 1:

Chapter 1:

 _ **The First Time is the Third Time**_

The nightmares came as the always did – like a good, normal dream.

" _Hey, Mikasa, what are you doing? Hurry up, let's go! It's getting late!"_

" _Eren?" She turned from where she watched the strange green stick-bug, looking up at her surrogate brother through half-lidded eyes._

" _Yeah? What is it?" He asked, with that look about the corner of his eyes that told her he was equal parts annoyed and amused. She smiled. "You haven't even picked any mushrooms, least of all wood," she accused, watching with interest when he sputtered and flushed. "I did too!" he argued, looking at anywhere but her, "I just, I mean… I picked some special mushrooms!"_

 _Her eyes widened, "But—,"_

 _Eren rolled his eyes, cutting her off, "Look, they're not for me, I'm not stupid," at her incredulous look, he gritted out, "I saw dad looking into it when he came back last week so I thought I'd help him get some of these things for his research and whatever."_

 _Eren shoved his hands inside his pockets, huffing when she smiled in understanding._

" _Well, anyway, let's get going!" He grinned at her suddenly, turning slightly to face the east, brown hair billowing out across his eyes as his face started to change before her very eyes, "Come on, Mikasa! Let's go!" An older-looking Eren was giving her the same grin, with that same look about his eyes, but this time he was rushing and zipping in between large trees. Behind them, she heard another, shriller voice yell out, "Eren, wait! Eren, you're going the wrong way!"_

 _Glancing behind her as she circled a low-hanging branch, she caught sight of blond hair and blue eyes. Said blue eyes caught hers and Armin offered her a timid smile; "Hey, Mikasa", he waved, quietly zipping past her a little awkwardly. Suddenly realizing she was being left behind, Mikasa started to chase after the two._

 _A shadow fell over the trio. Looking up into the sky, Mikasa saw Reiner, no—she saw the Armored Titan, then she saw the Female Titan, then she saw the Armored Titan reaching for Eren, then Eren screaming, reaching for Armin, then she saw Annie step on Armin, then she heard an animalistic howl and realized it was her, then she saw Eren become a monster, no—then she saw Eren save everyone, then she saw Eren losing, then she, then, then—_

 _She heard Eren scream something at her, his eyes wide, "Mikasa! Mikasa, don't!" The ground was shaking beneath her feet as she tried to run after Reiner. Briefly, she wondered where her equipment had gone, but she didn't dwell on it; she needed to save Eren. Running as fast as she could, she screamed at Reiner, screamed herself raw, felt the floor turn to give beneath her, glanced back and saw the sky was falling and the ground was not there and Eren was gone and she didn't know what to do, except that she had to find him, had to help him—_

Something cold hit her in the face and she awoke with a startled yelp, reflexively reaching out to trap whoever it was that had surprised her into a headlock.

"AYYYYYYYYYUIEUAAA- le' go, le' go, le' go, dammit! Let gooooo! Let Shippo go!" a high-pitched voice screamed into her ear. She gripped him harder and he wailed.

"Ahem."

Mikasa and her prisoner both froze. Looking behind her shoulder, Mikasa spotted a man in strange garbs who was looking at her expectantly. She gave him a cold look, adjusted her grip on her prisoner and bit out, "Who are you?"

The man's eyes creased as he gave her a cheery smile, "Ah, yes, hello, how rude of me! I am Miroku, but you, young lady, are welcome to call me anything you please!" He gave a mock bow, glanced up briefly to look at her face, and winked. Mikasa sent him an unimpressed look.

"Right."

The monk beamed.

He said, "Now, if you could just…" he gestured vaguely at the shape that had gone deadly still within her grip. She contemplated telling him to prove his alliances, but decided against it – obviously, whoever this stranger was, had he been an enemy he would have attacked ( _especially given her state, good god, what kind of idiot—_ ).

She released her grip on the captive and shoved him off her lap. The child, for a child it was, she thought a little forlornly, scrambled away from her like he had been burned and clung to the legs of the strange man, who had been oddly quiet until then.

The man, Miroku, smiled, "Thank you, fair lady!"

Mikasa's eyes stayed glued to the cowering child behind the man. Now, Mikasa may not be a genius like Armin, but she sure knew that children were _**not**_ supposed to have _tails_. She scowled. Perhaps she had hit her head during the fight. Or perhaps this was just part of the nightmare. Or perhaps it was the mushrooms. Honestly, she couldn't tell anymore.

"Miss?" Miroku asked, observing her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you need any help? Are you lost?" He started to walk towards her, but Mikasa moved back.

"I'm fine. But, why are you here?" She frowned, glancing around the area. She had been expecting the titans to show up sometime last night but none had come. She took that time to glance around, "You shouldn't be here," she said, clenching her jaw when she stumbled onto her feet, "If you stay here any longer, the titans will come for you. You should go back to wherever you came from."

Now that the she was standing, she took the time to take a proper look at the man; she was surprised by his facial features, as she really hadn't seen anyone that looked like her besides her mother. The man had short, dark hair and small, slanted eyes; and although he was a bit tanner than she, Mikasa could tell that he must be an "Asian" just as she was. Mulling over this, she tried to think of how she got gotten here and where exactly "here" was – the battle had been long, longer than she would have liked, and their parties had been separated. She had no idea how far the Scouting Legion ( _or what was left of them_ ) had gotten but she was skeptical that the distance traveled would have been enough to find another civilization besides her own. Lost in thought, she failed to notice when the boy, Shippo, had come closer to sniff at her feet. Glancing at Miroku again, she couldn't help but to remember her mother, her first family; it was difficult to ignore the similarities in facial structure without thinking about that night.

Miroku, on the other hand, took the opportunity to observe her with intense scrutiny. If he didn't know any better, he would have said that the young woman standing before him, in her torn and bloody garments, with what looked like two broken blades hanging limp behind her back, was the same young woman who only a couple of years ago had vanished inside the Bone Eater's Well forever. His forehead creased in thought. It had only been a four years since Kagome had gone back to her own time, so who could this woman be? Well, he thought, face breaking into a lecherous grin, there was only one way to find out.

"I think your injuries have started to affect you. Perhaps you would like to come with me?" he asked amiably, gesturing behind him.

Mikasa looked up at him from where she was staring at the ground. She hesitated.

What would Armin do? What would Eren do? Well, Armin would probably have—

No, not now, Mikasa.

She stared at the strange man. He seemed harmless enough, but she wasn't stupid. Life had taught her the extent of human depravity and she wasn't about to repeat the same mistake of years ago. Mikasa looked at Miroku and said, "... Name's Mikasa. The help would be appreciated."

Miroku's eyes creased in a smile and he clasped his hands together. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "Well, then! This way, please. And watch your step."

The man turned away and walked towards the west. The boy, Shippo, who didn't look to be more than 12 or 13, scrambled after him, "Wait!"

Mikasa followed close behind, keeping an eye on the pair. If things got bad, she always had her blades, even broken as they were. She may also have been injured, but she could still put a good fight. Grimly satisfied and still feeling like she was missing something, Mikasa followed Miroku and Shippo out of foreign woods.

* * *

The forest, Mikasa quickly noticed, was very different from the one the Survey Corps usually preferred. The trees, although thick, were small and covered with moss and vines, which would have made the 3D Maneuver Gear impossible to use. The air was humid, and every time she took a step, she had to make sure not to get tangled on one of the stray vines that reached out to grab her.

"We're almost to the village," Miroku called out. She grunted in acknowledgment. Walking out of the middle of the forest provided less cover from predators and titans, and she was beginning to get anxious; the trees were getting smaller, thinner, and scarcer as they went. The boy, Shippo, was also making her anxious – he would not stop sniffing the air and glaring back at her. Mikasa caught his glare and sent a nonimpressed stare of her own. Finally, in what seemed like an awfully long time, especially on foot, they arrived to the outskirts of a town.

"This is Higashiyama," Miroku explained, carefully stepping over some weeds as they made their way down a steep slope to the gates of town, "It's a small district in Kyoto. Perhaps you have heard of it? We're renowned for our temples, after all." Miroku smiled jovially at one of the guards stationed near the big wooden gates. "I'm sure you'll find it to your liking here," he said, "While we have quite a bit of people around, the crime rates are low and… ah, Mikasa-san?"

Mikasa had stopped following Miroku and Shippo as soon as they entered the town; she stared in silent shock at the bustling life within the city. Here, she found some women that wore beautiful silk dresses and elaborate hairdos, men that walked around the streets in small groups with swords casually strapped to their sides; still, some other women wore plain clothing and called out to random passerby, hoping to sell their merchandise – and what merchandise it was! There was rice, and wheat, and even meat, which was always scarce. Swallowing the sight, sounds, and smells around her, Mikasa came to feel that there was something terribly alien and terribly precious about this place. How could these people simply walk by carelessly and unafraid? Were they not aware that their town was vulnerable, that they had no walls or bodies of water that would protect them? She frowned, heart pounding loudly against her ribcage. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know where her family had gone. She didn't know what to do; she was injured and alone in some strange place that smelt like rosewater and the sea, left to trust a strange man of questionable morals and a beast-like child with a hair-trigger temper. Mikasa wished Armin and Eren were here, or even Sasha and Jean. They would have voiced her concerns in her place and she would've had no other choice but to do something about it. Now, though, she was alone ( _so terribly, terribly, and horribly alone_ ) and had no one to look after but herself. Looking after herself was never her forte.

Miroku watched her with an unreadable expression. Watching as her eyes went from awe, to disbelief, to grief, he couldn't help but be reminded of Kagome – while this woman was indeed very different than Kagome temperament-wise, the way the air stilled around her shoulders made him nostalgic.

"Mikasa-san?" he asked. She had been silent for a long time. "If you're not feeling well, we can-,"

"I'm fine. Let's go," she cut him off, face blank as she walked past him and Shippo. Shippo watched her back curiously.

"Hey, Miroku, is she really okay? Wasn't she kinda pale?" the little kitsune asked.

Miroku gave him a serene smile, "Well, we'll find out soon. Let's go find Lady Kaede."

* * *

The trek to Lady Kaede's part of town didn't take long, and soon all three of them were sitting at her mercy. She inspected Mikasa thoroughly, tending to her wounds and wrapping some bandages around her waist. She couldn't do much about the broken ribs, but she could wrap her twisted ankle and heal the gash on her left hip with some herbs. The healing process would take some time, but that didn't mean the girl had to bear the pain – she mushed some mugwort roots, clover flowers, and wolfberry tree bark to create painkillers. She would have to apply it every four hours, but the tedious application was a small price to pay for the relief it offered. Once finished, Kaede sat back to inspect her work. Satisfied, she nodded towards the girl, who nodded back respectfully, and asked, "Now, what did you say your name was?"

"Mikasa, ma'am," she responded. The young woman was young, but her expression was that of a shell-shocked veteran; as a young apprentice, Kaede had seen that exact same look on the faces of men who went to war on the behalf of their lords. There was something rotten that clung to their clothes – perhaps it was death, or grief, or loss, but whatever it was, it never faded, it just learned to hide better.

"Well, Mikasa-san, as this one has said before, I am the local miko. You're welcome to stay here until you make a full recovery. Miroku and Shippo over there must get home before their family gets worried, I'm afraid," Kaede said, glancing at said duo.

Miroku eye-smiled at her, "That's right! Sango will be most joyous upon our return. She had sent me off to pick some herbs but I got sidetracked."

Shippo huffed, "Yeah, like always; he went off chasing some girls from Mono's okiya."

Miroku's smile didn't fade as he nervously covered Shippo's mouth. Kaede scowled at him and he laughed, "Ahaha, well, I must get going! I hope your recovery goes uninterrupted, Mikasa-san! We'll be sure to drop by some time! Farewell!"

He hurried out of the shack with Shippo, their figures disappearing under the evening sky in the far distance. Mikasa glanced up at the darkening sky and wondered what the hell was going on. She hoped the others had made it out safely during their skirmish. Briefly, she wondered whether Armin, Jean, or Sasha were in the same situation as her. She wondered whether all four of them were staring up at the same bleeding sky, lost and alone in some foreign land, surrounded by people who walked with the seed of peace and hope sown into their souls. She hoped they were alright. She hoped, and hoped, and hoped, and sometime during her hopeful prayer she had failed to see the purple haze of night and its stars settle overhead.

"Come one, child. Let's go inside," Kaede said, grimly watching her back. "The night is a mysterious thing, and it wouldn't do it at all to get lost within it."

Mikasa gazed up at the stars, thought of blue eyes like lightning on stormy nights and green eyes like coiled leaves on spring mornings, and followed after Kaede, into the warmth of the fire burning away under the chimney.

* * *

 **A/N: _yo!_ I haven't watched Inuyasha in a while, so character fleshing might be awkward at the moment. I'm still trying to get a feel for Mikasa and her psyche, too, so there'll be a lot of instropection on her part. Anyway, here goes the first chapter. There's not much action, since I'm still trying to get a feel on things, but rest assured: things will go to shit soon. Well, that's it. Review, favorite, and follow; thanks.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Roots and her Lonely Boys

Chapter 2:

 _ **Roots and her Lonely Boys – Part 1**_

Sometimes the agony flashes through her chest like lightning bolts.

Mikasa is almost certain that she is dead and she has gone to hell. She thinks that perhaps those lunatics from the Wall Cult may have been onto something. Somehow, she can still remember her first encounter with their kind.

It had been an early morning, and it was Squad 4s' turn for rookie duty – picking up food supplies, mending the gear, delivering gas tanks, that sort of stuff. She had been on her way back from delivering the gas when she spotted a pastor preaching to a group of civilians at the step of The Church. The man's voice was a low, resonating baritone that captivated its audience with the allure of a quiet storm. "There a verse reads in The Book bestowed upon us by the Sisters that tells how we should treat Them and the punishment awaiting does who violate their Sanctity," his grey eyes, weathered with age and wisdom, had scanned the crowd. He somberly continued, "When from the soil the Sisters rose, the darkness that was the sky cleared to reveal their bright, loyal lion-heart; first came Rose, who gleamed like fine gold and brought with her the rain, then came sister Sina, who blossomed like sunflowers and brought with her the spring, and lastly came Maria, who towered mighty and righteously, and who granted us the sky. The Sisters that had generously provided mortals with their protection are the physical embodiment of purity – humans, sinners that we are, should learn our place; we have no right to control their celestial structures. So Ho! Behold! All you sinners gathered here today, this is the Word of the Sisters: Those who defy their might will be crushed and cannot hope to find salvation after death. The earth will reel and rock; the foundations of mountains tremble and quake, smoke will escape their nostrils and fire from their mouths; flaming coals will hail forth from Them. Thick darkness will envelop the unbelievers, the sinners, and the whores, and the Sisters will drag them down to toil forever away inside their iron and brimstone."

Sometimes, she feels like she has gone to hell, left to muddle through a swamp in the darkness. Is this what it means to be a slave? She's not sure whether she wants the answer to that.

Watching as the one called Lady Kaede bantered with the village orphans, she thought that they were kind. Perhaps she should go. Kindness was like a fire. It provided warmth and protection, but if she didn't keep it in check it would rise and devour her. She had been in Higashiyama for three days already, and the longer she stayed bed-bound the stronger her thoughts perturbed her. She couldn't even help the old lady with her duties. The only good thing about being bed-bound and injured was that Lady Kaede indulged her with some history about this place.

Mikasa was currently in a small town in Kyoto, the current capital of the country Japan. Japan, she came to understand, was the place where her mother's people came from. Japan, she also realized, should no longer exist.

Lady Kaede watched the girl warily. She had an awfully gaunt face, and while she could see the lean muscle of a warrior flex beneath her clothing, she couldn't help but think of her as lost, malnourished child. She had started to heal, slowly, but it was something. She didn't have any of the modern medicine those foreigners sold downtown, but she still had her good old miko skills and a healthy (if not outright impressive, if she did say so herself, modesty be damned) amount of medicinal knowledge.

"Mikasa-san, it's time to reapply your bandages. If I may?"

"Ah, yes."

Kaede worked in silence, cleaning Mikasa's wound and applying some ointment. It was a very deep, nasty gash that was beginning to scar. Upon closer inspection, Kaede noted that it looked remarkably off – the width between open wound was oddly large and symmetrical, as if created by a bear trap of some sort, or perhaps by a large animal. The scar tissue was irritated, but she'd rather have it be red than infected. She covered the wound with some bandages, taking the opportunity to also tie the bandages around the girls' ribs a little tighter.

"How's your leg doin'?," she asked, nodding her head at Mikasa's limb.

"The inflammation's gone down," Mikasa replied, "It's still bruised and it hurts when I apply too much pressure or increase my pace, but I think it will heal soon." And man, was Mikasa glad she could finally saunter about. Being stuck in bed 24/7 and being taken care of by the old lady was embarrassing to her soldier's pride, and outright unhealthy for her mental health.

Kaede snorted, guessing where Mikasa's thoughts led her. "Such a troublesome child," she chided, and Mikasa frowned at her condescending tone of voice.

"I sure hope she's not being too much of a burden on you, Lady Kaede," a new voice interrupted.

Kaede looked towards the entrance of her cot in mild surprise, "Ah, Miroku-kun! Seems you've finally deigned to gift us with your presence. The girl is fine; she's too much wild fox to my liking, but at least she hasn't done anything too stupid."

Miroku graced her with a small grin, "Glad to hear that. How're you feeling, Mikasa-san?"

Mikasa, annoyed at the monk's proximity, snapped, "Peachy."

Miroku glanced at her with barely veiled amusement, "Well, then. Seems like you're in the perfect mood for a tale about my wonderful children!"

Mikasa inwardly groaned, dismayed at the idea of having to go through another session of Miroku's rant about the wonders of fatherhood. The man had dropped by on several occasions before and never missed the chance to chatter about his offspring.

"Miroku-san, please don't patronize her. Mikasa-san still needs rest," Kaede said, giving him a mildly reproving look. Mikasa sagged with relief. Well, at least she didn't have to listen to his ramblings. She's had enough crazy to last her a lifetime, thank you very much.

* * *

After coming to terms with the fact that yes, she was in fact alive, sane (okay, maybe not really, but she's just gonna pretend not to know that), and away from home, Mikasa did what she does best – she learned.

"What?" Kaede asked, surprised at her request, "You want to learn to write?"

"And read," Mikasa amended, "I can understand you just fine, and you can obviously understand me, but I need to grasp the pragmatics of the language."

Kaede gave her a skeptical look but relented nonetheless.

She sighed, "Well, alright."

The following days flew by in a haze. She spent the remainder of her recovery time trying to master Japanese. She could read simple kanji and a good amount of hiragana, but the more complex stuff was going to take a while.

She sat on the steps outside the bamboo shack, and used a stick to write on the soil near the porch. Kaede was instructing her when the screaming of a village boy reached them. The boy, Taro, panted as he ran towards them, and finally coming close to the priestess, grabbed unto the sleeves of her tunic and sobbed, "Lady Kaede! Lady Kaede! You've got to help me! Yuki's been taken by a youkai! She'll get eaten!"

Kaede scowled, and snapped, "Boy, slow down. Tell me what's happened."

The boy hiccupped, "We-we were told to gather herbs from behind the mountain for father's cold. I turned away to collect some berries along the way and t-then I, I heard a scream, a-and when I turned back again I saw Yuki being taken by some youkai; Please, Lady Kaede, help me find my sister!"

At this point, Kaede signaled to Mikasa, who had been listening to the conversation with a fair amount of curiosity and mounting dread.

"Lady Kaede?"

"Mikasa, child. Fetch Miroku. I'll go to the mountain with Taro. The monk knows the way; be quick now, we mustn't waste time!"

Not quite knowing what was going on but having enough sense to detect when a situation had turned for the worse, Mikasa nodded and took off towards Miroku's neighborhood as fast as she could. She hurled herself into the busy main street and unto the samurai district, avoiding traffic and finally finding Miroku's residence beside the ornament shop.

She knocked loudly on the door, "Miroku! Miroku! Kaede needs your help!"

Noise came from within the home, and Sango, who Mikasa had come to know was Miroku's wife and a very good shot with her sandals, popped out and frowned, "Mikasa-san? Um, what's wrong? Miroku's not home today. He was called to another prefecture yesterday on a job. Is there something I can help you with?"

Mikasa's ears were pounding.

"I, uh, believe there's been some sort of accident… I – sorry, Sango-san, I've gotta go!" Mikasa took off, leaving a bewildered Sango behind her as she turned sharply and headed back to Kaede's.

She was sweating bullets with the pain that shot through her leg every time she made contact with the hard ground, and by the time she arrived at the modest old house, her shirt was drenched and she was panting like a terrified animal.

She couldn't just stay there. She had to do something, anything. _Shit_ , Mikasa thought, _Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshithits_ —

She went inside the house and grabbed the sharpest weapon she could find. An axe probably wouldn't do much against whatever this "youkai" thing was, but if Sasha motherfucking Blouse could kick Titan ass with this shitty little thing, then Mikasa could do it just as well. Gripping the axe in her right hand, she set out along the edge of the woods towards the mountain, hoping to find Kaede and Taro before it was too late.

"Lady Kaede! Taro!" she called, straining her ears for a response, "Shit! Lady Kaede?!"

Looking wildly about, Mikasa heard the river before she saw it. She sprinted toward it, not quite knowing why, and crashed right into a girls' small body.

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

They tumbled into the shallow part of the water and turned to stare at each other. The girl, probably about seven, was holding unto a hand-sewn sachet. She had a few bruises on her legs and a small gash above her brow, but otherwise, she looked relatively unharmed.

The little girl whimpered.

"Are you… Yuki-san?" Mikasa asked slowly, "Your brother and Lady Kaede are looking for you."

The girl gasped, "Taro is? Where is he?! We have to find them!"

"Whoa, wait, calm down," Mikasa said, trying to soothe the child, "Look, I'll go search for them. Stay close to me."

Yuki nodded, and together they set up deep into the woods. Mikasa found burn marks on some trees and followed the trail into higher ground. Looking up, she realized that there was a cave on the lip of the mountain above them. She thought she saw a flash of red before it vanished.

"Yuki, I'm gonna go up. Climb the highest tree you can find and make no noise, alright?" she said.

Yuki nodded. Once Mikasa was sure that Yuki had climbed a tree and was well-hidden, she inspected the area above her head and grunted.

This was gonna be a bitch to climb.

Huffing, she gripped the ledge that stuck out the most and heaved up. Small rocks and dust fell down the mountain as she made her way up, careful not to pull at her wounds too much lest she piss off Kaede's gods and get stricken down for being an impudent child. Kaede's words, not hers.

Glancing up, she again saw what she thought was a flash of red before it vanished like smoke into the russet sky. A pool of dread like lead on a ship sunk into her stomach. The air kept getting colder as she got closer, and by the time she had managed to crawl into flat ground, it was almost chilly enough to freeze her bones.

Mikasa kept to the ground, crawling on all fours until she found a dip in the ground, where she stayed. She slung the axe off her shoulder strap and measured her breathing. In front of her, a cave. Darkness as vast as the abyss of Titan mouths. The wretched scent of war emanated from within, and the cold that surrounded the cave stabbed her once again open wounds. The smell of her blood was dizzying.

Dizzy, very dizzy—there. Movement. It was fast, and there was something silver and shiny that—another one! To the right, no, left. Stillness. The russet sky looked like a pool of blood. She could almost see the blonde strands decorating the ruby waters like a sick imitation of a beauty. She could almost see the bluest eyes in the world staring lifelessly up at her, crying, crying—not now, Mikasa, fucking shit.

She crouched and readied herself up for a spring. Whatever this thing was, it screamed predator at her, and that was never good.

A growl. A flash of quicksilver. Slits like waning moons slowly becoming full – a light within them that screamed of dominance and the nature of wild beasts. A flash of teeth.

Mikasa glared right back. The teeth on the other side only widened. The shadow moved languidly, steps loudly crushing rocks and leaves as it moved closer.

A man stepped into the moonlight, and Mikasa froze.

It was at that moment that she knew if the gods were real, she would find them, and she would kill them, for the thing standing in front of her was a King, and she's never liked royalty much.

* * *

Yo. Miss me? Yeah, that's what I thought. Anyway, I'm back to college, but I've got a good schedule and I like to keep busy, so you'll be seeing updates sooner - or at least that's the idea. See you around, my harem.


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